


What do Lo Mein, You've Never Had Chinese Food?

by sinnabee



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Frisk is Agender, Reader Is Not Frisk, She/her pronouns, Slice of Life, WE'LL SEE!, With a twist!, glasses!reader, happiness, ill add tags as we go, probably only a little angst?, reaaaally slow, reader has a nickname, reader identifies as female, reader is female, reader knows chinese, reader wears glasses, slowburn, uhm this is mostly cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-06-08 14:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6858268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinnabee/pseuds/sinnabee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You're a pretty simple kind of girl, and you lead a pretty simple kind of life. Attend classes, try not to strangle your silly roommate, and go to work at the greatest hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant in existence. Seriously. The food is to die for.</p><p>Your pretty simple life, which is already a pretty pleasant existence, gets even better when you gain a few new regulars at work. But apparently some of them still haven't tried Chinese food??? Time to fix that!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Egg Rolls - Having a Hard Time Rolling Out of Bed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gigiree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gigiree/gifts).



> Whoohoo here it is! This is gonna be a silly, happy fic, thanks for stopping by to check it out! Gonna be slow. :)
> 
> HERE YOU GO GIGI I HOPE YOU LIKE IT THIS IS YOUR FAULT!!!

You knew, the moment you pried your eyes open and felt that awful, crusty sleepy goop around them, that it was not going to be a very good day. Primarily because as soon as you opened your eyes, you were greeted by the blurry image of your roommate holding a cup of water over your head threateningly. Definitely not on your list of “things you love to see wake up to.” You swore and rolled away from the danger, only managing to tangle yourself up further in your sheets and get more of that gummy feeling around your eyes. Above you, your roommate scoffed.

“Rolling over doesn’t mean I’m not going to pour this on you, you know!” Sensing your imminent soaking, you quickly scrambled upright in bed, your legs kicking awkwardly within the sheets. You knew from past experience that unless you were upright and at least passably “awake,” she would not hesitate to dump it on you. Your roommate, Veronica, still held the glass of water a little too close to you for comfort. You rubbed at your eyes agitatedly and groaned. What time was it?

“Oh my god...Ronnie, why are you waking me up on a Saturday?” Again. “What time is it, even? I need to sleep for another week, god.” The palms of your hands were currently pressed into your eyes, but you didn’t need to be able to see to feel the way she was rolling her eyes at you. You seriously contemplated risking the water if it meant you could lay back down again.

“I’m waking you up because if I didn't you’d never get up at all.” She said. At least she put the cup down. And that was easy for her to say. She got up at an ungodly time every single day so she could exercise. You weren’t much of an early riser, and you sure as hell weren’t getting up to go, running or something. You didn't hate yourself. (You also didn't have really defined muscles or could lift weights like she did.)

“That’s not true!” you argued weakly, “I could get up any time I wanted to. I choose to sleep in this late.” Ha, no, that was a lie and you both knew it. You were awful at waking up on time. You rubbed at your eyes again, trying to get rid of that nasty crud that you always woke up with. Ugh. Where were your glasses?

“I never said you were the best decision maker.” Ronnie said, before she put her hands on her hips and smiled knowingly at you. You made an affronted noise, and pressed your hand to your chest in mock offense. How dare she? 

“How rude!? I’ll have you know I am a wonderful decision maker, and a mature, responsible adult! I have a job and attend college and everything.” Ronnie just rolled her eyes at you again, and you finally gave her a sleepy smile. And then she dropped a bomb that wiped that smile right off your face.

“It’s Sunday, doofus. And it’s 10:30.”

Shit.

That certainly got you moving.

You were up and out of the room like a shot, practically plowing through Ronnie in your rush to get to the bathroom and in the shower. You were going to be late again.

You heard your best friend laughing behind you, and you bit back a curse. You had to stop letting this happen!

\---

You practically ran all the way to work, your messenger bag thumping against your leg with each pound of your feet against the concrete, and your glasses slipping worryingly down the bridge of your nose. It was a bright, sunny day outside, but it did nothing to curb your mild panic. You dodged humans and monsters alike on the way to their lunch breaks, mentally pleading that the clock was still off, it was still ten minutes behind, so that maybe you would only look like you were twenty minutes late instead of thirty. 

It was ridiculous. You’d been working at the same place full-time for a little over a year now, but for some reason you’d been late at least five times in the past two weeks. This would be time number six. You needed to get a grip. 

You were almost there. You finally slowed down to a fast walk, hoping you didn’t look too out of breath when you came in. You imagined Ronnie would have a smug comment about getting up and exercising with her after all if she were there, but you shoved that aside and focused on the present. Moving quickly and trying to be discreet, you pushed the doors open and swept through the waiting area, behind the counter, and into the back room. You quickly grabbed one of the aprons there waiting for you and tried to sneak yourself into the back so you could grab your straws and move out to the front and start helping customers.

You almost got away with it, too. But your boss was in the back getting a table drinks. Busted.  
“Li!” She snapped. “You late! We busy! Hurry, you go service customer!” You winced. Damn it. At least she was using English and not Chinese, which would have really meant bad news. Hastily snatching a handful of straws and making a speedy getaway, you tried you best to ignore Chef’s high pitched “ehehe” coming from the kitchen. Instead, you stepped out into the main area and got to work.

You worked in a little Chinese restaurant tucked in-between what was essentially a large, permanent flea market and a small electronics store. It was kind of a hole in the wall type place, but you and your family had been coming here for years. It was called Tiny China and it had the best egg rolls in the entire world. You started helping out on weekends back in high school, and now you worked there full time, to help pay for grown up, adult things, like college, and rent.

There was a small entrance area, with the counter and register a little farther in. After that it spread out into a large room filled with booths and tables. There was a half-wall divider with decorative glass that separated the eating space into two sections. Immediately to the left of the counter after coming all the way in were the two buffet bars, and past that, the back room where you go drinks, and the kitchen.

It wasn’t exactly small, but it wasn’t a huge restaurant either. Usually, there was no problem with the size of the place. 

But Sundays...they were probably the busiest day of the entire week. You didn’t know how everyone who went to church seemed to find out about it, but every Sunday around 12:15, the place was suddenly packed for the buffet. You’d had several days where it seemed like you ran out of everything; cups, plates, bowls, silverware, and tables.

You were supposed to show up at 11:00, but today you were late. By the time you got around to actually serving the customers, your parents, who always came in to eat on Sunday, were already almost done with their food. You dithered around a bit, picked up some plates, made sure to say hello to your coworkers, Lauren and Macy, and when there was a lull, you made your way over to your parents table.

“Hey mom, hey dad!” You chirped. You had a rough morning, but it was always nice seeing your parents, especially since you moved out.

Your mom gave you an award-winning grin and your dad just smiled softly at you.

“Hey there sweetheart. How’s school going?” Your mom asked. You resisted the urge to sigh or roll your eyes, instead settling for a resigned smile. Straight to business, then. 

“It’s going fine, mom. I got a 97 on my last test. And, that group project in history? We haven’t presented it yet, but I think we’re gonna nail it.” You didn’t mention it was because you got assigned Alexander Hamilton, but you smiled about it anyway.

Your mom smiled back at you and you spent a few minutes chatting with them (how were they, how’s the dog, did dad manage to clean out the garage yet?) until you heard Ming, your boss, calling you.  
“Li!”

You quickly snatched up your dad’s half empty cup, your mom’s finished plate, and shot them one last smile over your shoulder before rushing towards the back to get him a refill and toss the plate in the bin. When it was this busy, Ming didn’t really like it when you spent too much time talking, even to your parents.

Pretty soon after that, your parents left. You spent the shift running from booth to booth, seating new customers, getting refills, bringing people hot mustard and white rice, taking plates, and wiping down tables.

Luckily, despite your rocky start that morning, things seemed to be going a lot smoother after you got into the swing of things. You might have messed up a few drinks, but everyone was pretty amicable about it so far. You made faces at Lauren whenever you passed her, and talked about what had been going in on school with Macy whenever you both happened to be getting drinks. You also pointed out some of the regulars, like egg roll guy, who always gutted about 5 egg rolls but left the yummy fried part butchered and forlorn on his plate. And the large plant monster that liked to come in and quietly enjoy the spicy chicken, drenched in extra sriracha sauce. You were always happy see the other regulars unbothered by any monsters that came in, since there were quite a few monster regulars as well. (In fact, egg roll guy and the plant monster regular chatted a lot, and sometimes even sat together! For some reason it tickled you pink.)

Around 1:00, the rush had died down and all three of you were finally able to slow back down to a reasonable pace. Macy was in the back helping Chef with some call ins, and Lauren had picked up the broom and was sweeping the back, where large parties were seated. So that left you to head up front and seat the newest customer, a very, very large goat monster, who had to stoop so his horns didn’t catch on the door frame. 

He was wearing a blue polo shirt and khaki dress pants, and despite being covered in primarily white fur, had a blond beard and matching hair on his head. You approached him with a warm smile, feeling about ten times more cheerful than you were this morning. It was so slow, you’d probably get off thirty minutes early, so you may have been a bit over enthusiastic. If tired.

“Hi there!” You greeted, “Welcome to Tiny China! How are you today?” You adjusted your glasses and the larger goat monster smiled down at you warmly. A low rumble seemed to resonate from somewhere inside his chest.

“Howdy! I’m doing wonderfully, thank you for asking. And how are you today?” His voice was very deep, wow. You smiled at him while you tried to pick out the table in your mind that would seat him the easiest. Table or booth?

“I’m great, thank you! Just one today, sir? Or are you meeting someone?” He gave you a slightly less brilliant smile and shook his head. 

“Just one, I’m afraid.” You smiled at him again. Normally you’d ask if he wanted a table or a booth, but you had already decided where you were going to seat him. Besides, you knew for a fact that almost every monster who came in tended to ask for seating closer to the windows. It made a sad kind of sense, unfortunately, for a people who’d been trapped without the sky.

You nodded your head and asked him to follow you, quickly leading him over to the last booth that sat next to the windows. The booth didn't touch the wall, so Ming had everyone seat larger customers there, since it could be scooted back without bumping anything except the fake plant behind it. This way, a customer wouldn't be awkwardly squished up against the table.

You turned and gave him another small smile, and he nodded his head to you.

“Okay, here you go! Will this be alright?” He just smiled and nodded again, and thanked you. “Do you know what you’d like to drink, sir?”  
His face seemed to light up. 

“Ah! Yes, I was wondering, would you happen to have any tea?” 

“We do! Would you like some, then? We have sweet and unsweet tea, and Oolong.”

“The Oolong, please. That sounds wonderful.” You gave him one more smile before heading off to get his drink. While you made his tea, you absently contemplated how often you felt like smiling at work. Hell, you were smiling right now.  
A lot of people complained about working in customer service jobs, but honestly, you enjoyed it. It was a chance to meet new people, and it was really good practice for being social! Before this job, you found it a lot harder to talk to people. In fact, for the first few months, you could barely manage to ask someone if you could pick up their dirty plates. Now you chatted freely with customers and felt a lot more confident in your interactions with people.

But you smiled practically the whole time at work. Because every time you made eye contact, you felt the need to smile so they didn't think you were some kind of surly, unhappy grumpy person. Plus, it usually made people smile back. And you were just… happy.

You finished filling up the tea pot and set the lid on it gently before grabbing a tray, a cup and saucer, and a small spoon. You gathered everything up onto the tray and went out to bring table three his tea, passing by Lauren with the broom on your way there. You flashed her a smile as well before balancing the tray on one arm and slowly setting up the pot and cup. The goat monster was still sitting at his table, though, instead of getting the buffet. Oops, You forgot that sometimes newbies were unsure of how it worked.

“There’s your tea, sir! Are you eating the buffet today?” Normally you’d ask if he needed anything else, but it was best to get this out of the way first.

“Ah, yes I am. I’m terribly sorry, this is my first time here. Do I just…?” 

Oh man, it never ceased to make you smile when a customer got all nervous about it. He looked downright bashful, which you didn't think should have been possible for a big guy like him, but he managed it. Like, was it really okay for him to go up and start getting food? It amused you endlessly.

“If you’re eating the buffet, you can head right on up! Plates, bowls, and knives are right up there,” you pointed to the small counter by the bar, “and if you need anything else, just ask me or one of the others! Like if you want white rice, or sauce, or need a refill! Is there anything else you need right now?”

He gave you another close-lipped smile that scrunched up his eyes a bit.

“No, thank you. You’ve been most helpful! May I ask your n-”

“Li! Table 8 finish! You clean!”

And there went your chance to chat. You shot the large monster (very large, like large for a monster large, have you emphasized this enough yet?) an apologetic smile, already turning away to go and clean the table before Ming started yelling at you from behind the register again. Or worse, came up and berated you and explained how to do something in front of the customers again.

“Sorry! Excuse me! Please enjoy your meal, sir!” And then you scurried off.

Ming was great, but work time was for working, and if you weren't working, she assumed it was because you had forgotten how to do something, or were too busy talking. Which was, again, not working. So you got back to work.

The rest of your shift passed quickly, though you didn't get off early like you were hoping, since a last-minute table of 7 came in. When you weren't bringing around the water pitcher, taking plates, or clearing off empty tables, you found yourself drifting back around to table 3, where your big goat monster sat. 

Whenever you found a new customer, you always liked to go over and ask how everything was. It sounded kind of cheesy, but you pretty much advertised Tiny China to people all the time, you loved the food. (Heck, half the time you’d come in for lunch there on your days off, or send Ronnie to go pick it up for the both of you.)

But he was very, very friendly. You only ever got to talk for maybe a few minutes at a time, but you found yourself smiling wider than usual every time.

The end of your shift finally rolled around, and you were chatting with Macy on the way back to the front after hanging up your aprons. You had just stepped out from behind the register when you noticed the monster at table three preparing to leave.

“Hey Mace, can you get my drink? I’ll check him out real quick!” Macy glanced at the restaurant behind her quickly before turning back to you.

“Are you sure? I can get Ming, I think she’s- oh, she’s talking to her parents. Yeah sure! The usual?”

You beamed at Macy, who was already turning away to go and get your drink.

“Yep! Thanks Mace!”

“No problem!”

You slipped back behind the counter just as the goat man shuffled his way to the front. He smiled down at you and straightened up after having to duck his horns to get under the archway separating the lobby from the restaurant.

“Hey there!” You chirped, already pulling up his ticket on the computer. “Was everything good?”  
You were busy messing with the keys, but you imagined that his eyes might have crinkled at the corners with his small chuckle.

“Yes, indeed! Everything was excellent, thank you.” He handed you his card and you grinned back at him.

“You’re very welcome! I’m glad you liked it, I love eating here.” You stopped for a moment to punch something else in, and then handed his card back to him. “Okay, your total was $8.75. But yeah, I’d honestly probably eat here just about every day if my roommate didn't stop me. And I still eat here pretty often regardless.” You handed him his receipt and adjusted your glasses as you rambled, your eyes lighting up in excitement. “Oh! And the egg rolls are the best, right?”

He carefully signed the restaurant’s copy, pushing it back towards you, and then delicately folded his own before tucking it into his wallet. He smiled at you again.

“Yes!” He rumbled, “The egg rolls were quite delicious. I’ve seldom had a more satisfying experience. Thank you very much! It was such a pleasure to have you as a server. Have a lovely day, my dear.” With that, he stuck a healthy tip in the jar sitting innocently on the counter.

You waved him out, smiling widely the whole time.

“You too! Please come again!”

You watched as he ducked out the front doors, the bell tinkling brightly on his way out.

Looks like it turned out to be a much better day than you thought it would, after all. Still feeling like you were on a cloud after a conversation with such a pleasant person (and wow!!! that was a big tip!!!), you went about gathering up all of your favorite leftovers from the buffet and sat down to eat with Lauren and Macy.

You had class at 5:00, but not even the thought of the impending lecture could bring you down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is!!!! Gonna be a slow burn, a REALLY slow burn. But omg, thanks so much for stopping by and reading and I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> And if you enjoyed this, or even if you didn't...you should go check out Gigiree's sansxreader fic Just Enough! It. Is. A-MAZING. Literally incredible. A lot more serious than my take, and full of amazing time shenanigans and backstories and everything you could ever want. PLEASE go check it out, her writing is amazing. C:


	2. Mongolian Beef - Are Goats Vegetarians?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowie! That was pretty quick, huh? :D I'm on vacation, but luckily that means I have a lot of down time. Please enjoy this chapter!

You had a pretty good routine going, in your opinion.

You were usually woken up at some ungodly hour of the morning by your way-too-cheerful roommate Ronnie, sometimes with a surprise visit from her also way-too-cheerful AND a morning person friend, JJ. You spent about thirty minutes laying in bed trying to motivate yourself to actually get up and start the day. Unless, of course, you had class or work, in which case it was a mad scramble to get showered and dressed and toss your sopping wet hair up in some form or fashion and manage to get out the door with your keys in hand and your glasses securely on your face. Ronnie was usually laughing at you from somewhere in the apartment.

Go to class, take notes and do assignments, try not to fall asleep, and chat with your classmates.

Go to work, pick up plates, refill drinks, etc, etc. Talk to customers when you could and try not to get on Ming’s bad side.

And in your free time, study some, chill some, eat always. (Food was good, and you would never regret enjoying it.)

Lately, your work routine in particular had become a lot more interesting. You were noticing that the restaurant seemed to be getting more business from monsters! You were always glad when a monster told their friends about Tiny China, you knew sometimes it was hard for them to get good service. In Ming’s opinion, they were paying customers, and pleasant people. That was all that mattered in the end. You loved her for it.

It had been a while since you’d seen that great big, polite goat monster who came in during the Sunday rush. You didn't really think on it much. After all, you were a little busy with work, and school, and hanging out with Ronnie and more and more often, JJ. (JJ was just a friend of a friend, but you’d been hanging out a lot lately, and the idea of finally getting to know someone who was so important to Ronnie better was really exciting!)

Needless to say you were a little too preoccupied with other things to spend your time thinking about a friendly monster you only met once.

But boy, did you recognize him quick when he came in for dinner! He walked in the door and immediately you were beaming, pleased to see him back relatively soon. You stepped up to the small podium that housed all the menus with a blinding smile.

“Hi there! Welcome to Tiny China! How are you doing today?” Immediately, he was smiling back at you, and you weren’t positive, but you thought his eyes might have lit up in recognition.

“Howdy!” He said cheerfully, “I’m doing just wonderfully, thank you. How are you doing today, my dear?” His floppy ears almost seemed to perk up a bit with his smile.

Oh. That was kind of adorable. God, you loved monsters so much. They were just...great. Just really great.

“I’m doing fantastic! Thanks for asking!” You flashed him another smile and pushed your glasses back up the bridge of your nose. The darned things were always slipping. You preemptively grabbed a menu and tucked it against your chest. “How many today?”

“Just one.”

“Alrighty! This way, please!” You gestured for him to follow you. Luckily, table three had cleared out just a little before his arrival, so you were able to seat him there again. He sat down and you placed the menu in front of him before putting your hands on your hips and giving him another smile.

“Alright, do you know what you’d like to drink?” He looked up from his menu and suddenly you got the feeling you already knew what his drink order would be. (You were right.)

“The Oolong tea again, please! I very much enjoyed it the last time.”

You smiled knowingly, clasping your hands together for a moment before putting them back down again.

“A tea lover I see! I’ll be right back with your drink. Take your time with the menu!” With that you sauntered off to the back to start his tea.

When you came back out, there were no new customers and the only other table there at the moment, a friendly family of four who usually came in after their daughter’s band practice, seemed like they were fine and didn't need your help. Ming was in the kitchen talking with Chef about some baby formula she wanted to order for her grandchild back in China.

You set down the teapot and his cup and saucer before tucking the tray you used to carry it all out under one arm and putting your free hand on your hip.

“Is there anything else you need? Some more time with the menu before you order?”

He took a moment to pour himself a cup of the tea, holding it delicately between his large, furry paws. He didn't drink any yet, though, instead he rested his hands back on the table and looked up at you.

“Actually,” he began, “I’ve never really eaten at a Chinese restaurant before. I came in for the buffet, once, and tried a bit of everything, but I am not quite sure what everything is. Is there anything you might suggest?” Your eyes lit up in excitement. Oh yes. You could suggest plenty.

“Oh wow! Well, I’m glad you liked the buffet on Sunday!” You had a hard time keeping yourself from squealing or something similar. It was his first real experience with Chinese food, and you couldn't wait to offer up something delicious. “Okay! Haha, wow, I’m excited for you to try this! I love Chinese food, I eat it all the time, but, hm, let’s see…”

He set his tea back down on the table and opened up the menu, displaying it so you could look over everything. Quietly touched by his consideration, you stepped closer and leaned over a bit so you could point out some of the items. Your glasses slipped down again, but you ignored them for the moment.

“Alright. This one here is really popular, and a personal favorite of mine. The mongolian chicken or beef. Or both! It’s not spicy, really kind of sweet with a yummy brown sauce. It comes with green onions and some crunchy rice noodles in the bottom, and your choice of white or fried rice with it!” You straightened back up with a pleased smile on your face.

He hummed to himself quietly.

“Is there anything else you’d suggest for someone new? And what about some of the appetizers?”

“Sure! Another really popular item is the…”

You went on to describe a few more dishes to him., and the most common appetizers. But about halfway through, you realized something.

The very first thing you suggested to him was beef. What if...he didn't eat red meat? You were fairly certain he was a goat monster, but you didn't really know what monsters ate. Could a goat monster eat goat? Was it like eating a person to them, or was it different because the goat wasn't sentient? Could they eat beef? Was beef too close to goat?

He could be a vegetarian. You weren’t sure if goats were vegetarians! Herbivores? He was a monster so that would make him a vegetarian right? Or was he incapable of digesting meat, and that made him a herbivore? Humans were omnivores, were all monsters omnivores? (Did he eat metal?) What about bunny monsters? They were pretty common, you saw a pretty fair amount of bunny monsters…

Despite your sudden internal panic, you kept on suggesting dishes, thankfully only stumbling and stuttering over your words a few times, though did start messing with your glasses. You usually did when you were nervous. You dearly hoped your face wasn't too red. You told yourself to get it together. Surely he would have said something is he couldn't eat meat? As discreetly as possible, you started suggesting some meat-free dishes as well.

After suggesting a few soups, he finally seemed to come to a decision. He looked up at you with a bit of an apologetic smile. (Well, not really up at you. You were very short, and he seemed to tower over everything, even sitting down.)

“Thank you so much, my dear. I’m so sorry to have you carry on for so long, but I very much appreciate your patience with me! But I believe I’m ready to order now.” His smile small, but genuine.

You felt yourself straighten up again and your nervousness fluttered away as though it had never been there at all.

“No problem! I could talk about this food all day, it was super fun explaining it to you!” You beamed at him and he chuckled, his entire upper torso shaking softly. As he picked up the menu to order and you pulled out your notepad, you felt that nervousness flutter back in. Oh god.

“Alright. I’d like an egg roll, an order of crab rangoons…” You were in such a haze trying to calm yourself down that you almost didn't hear him begin to order. You clicked your pen and began scribbling on your notepad furiously.

“...the Mongolian Beef, with fried rice. And that will be everything! Again, I am so sorry for having you read all of those out…”

You couldn't help it. When you heard his order, you just heaved a huge sigh of relief. It was probably why you didn't really think about what you were saying next.

“Wow, no problem at all, really!” You laughed, and you imagined you might be feeling a little hysterical. You began waving your pen and notepad in the air demonstratively. “Oh, I was so worried you didn't like, eat meat or something? And the very first thing I suggested was beef! And I just, are goats vegetarians? I-I mean, I know you’re a monster that happens to look like a goat!!! Not an actual goat, a-and, I just wasn’t sure, after I started suggesting a bunch of meat, and I worried maybe cows were too close to goats, or something, and-!” Oh god, you needed to stop talking, right that very second, but your mouth just wouldn't stop.

“b-but anyway, uhm, the Mongolian meat! I mean beef! Yes, okay, the Mongolian Beef, because you eat meat, and aren't a vegetarian, like goats, uhm, and those appetizers. Yep. Gotcha! Those’ll be out in just a second!” Your brain was screaming ‘ABORT, ABORT, ABORT,’ and you quickly took a step backwards, attempting to flee. But you stepped onto the leg of a chair and almost fell over. It took some wild flailing to regain your balance. Your face was completely red, and slowly, with your arms still splayed out at your sides, you looked up to meet the monster’s bewildered gaze.

You snapped to attention and immediately broke eye contact. You squeaked out a high pitched “Sorry!” and escaped to the kitchen.

You’d never felt more embarrassed in your life.

You quickly snuck back out to the register to type up his receipt, but when you walked back into the kitchen chef was there staring at you with a shit eating grin on his face.You dreaded what he was about to say, and for good reason, when he asked,

“So? Are goats vegetarians?”

You felt your face heat up and groaned under your breath, trying to ignore the signature, high pitched “ehehehe!” from chef as he turned to go back to his cooking. You slipped him the order and tried to slink out of the kitchen and avoid any more humiliation.

You went to check on the family of four, but they were fine, no one even needed a drink refill. You wished you could start up a conversation with them, but you were already off your game, and when the opportunity arose you floundered and it passed you by. You told the family you were glad they were enjoying their meal, and scurried away again, fiddling with your glasses anxiously.

But you couldn't avoid it forever. And there was no way you were going to tell Ming that you couldn't serve table three his food because you previously had made a huge, awful fool of yourself.

So, when his eggroll and crab rangoons were done, you braced yourself and got ready to act like an adult. It was the least you could do, especially after telling everyone all the time how you had become a responsible adult and could take care of yourself.

You carried them over to him on a tray and gently set the plates down on his table. Tucking your tray under your arm, you straightened up and tried to contain any possible blush. Moment of truth.

“There you go! The rest of your food will be out shortly. And, uhm, I just wanted to apologize for the, ah,” don’t say word vomit, he is about to start eating, you canNOT say the word vomit, or barf, or- “for the things I said. I just...lost my brain to mouth filter, I guess.” You were mortified. Time to act like none of this ever happened.

Before you could enact your brilliant plan to distract him by asking if he needed more tea or telling him to enjoy his meal and running for it, he interrupted you with a hearty laugh. You stared at him, wide-eyed.

He was smiling jovially and reached over to lay a hand warmly on your arm. You were too shocked to really react.

He patted your arm, almost consolingly, a few times before withdrawing his furry hand again. He was smiling widely.

“Don’t worry about it, my dear! Consider it all water under the bridge.”

He waved a hand as if to dismiss it, but his eyes twinkled and you got the sudden feeling that he would definitely not be forgetting it any time soon. Your embarrassment was growing to astronomical levels. You attempted to regain your balance, regardless.Your glasses had slipped dangerously close to the edge of your nose, and you pushed them back up awkwardly.

“O-Oh! Well...I’m glad. Uhm, thank you. And sorry again. Anyway! Uhm, here’s your egg roll and your crab rangoons, would you like some more tea?” You tried for a smile.

It must have worked, because he smiled pleasantly back.

“Yes, please! I am running a little low, thank you so very much.” When you smiled again it was ten times easier.

“Of course! I’ll be right back.”

Thankfully, the rest of your shift went beautifully. No more instances of word vomit at any of the monster customers, and you only almost messed up someone’s drink order once, but you caught yourself, thankfully.

Your plan had been to leave the goat man to his meal, only coming around occasionally to check on him, but he began stopping you whenever you walked by.

It seemed he was determined to ignore your earlier...outburst, and you would be lying if you said you didn't appreciate it.

The first time it was to tell you that he was delighted you had suggested the Mongolian Beef, as it was delicious. You spent a few minutes talking with him about the food, and even suggested something new for next time.

The next time he stopped you to talk about different types of tea. He was clearly a lot more knowledgeable about it, but it was a fun conversation all the same.

When the end of your shift rolled around, you put your apron away in the back and quickly got a discounted order of Beef Fried Rice with an egg roll. The restaurant was still open for another two hours, but Ming let you go around this time because she figured she could handle it herself. You made sure to say goodbye to your friendly goat monster before leaving.

“Just wanted to say goodbye before I made my getaway! Was everything as good as you hoped?” You asked, smiling knowingly.

He chuckled softly.

“Yes! In fact I’d say it was much better than I expected. Thank you again.” He smiled back at you.

“You’re very welcome! But I’ve got to get going, I have some studying to do.” You have him a little wave and a goodbye and flounced over to the doors.

“Have a good night!” He called to your from his booth. “Good luck with your studies!” You grinned and waved again.

“You too! See you later!” With that, you adjusted your bag and headed out the door, listening to the faint tingling of the bell as you left.

You were halfway to your apartment when you realized what you had said. A smile split your face, and you straightened your glasses again even though they say perfectly on the bridge of your nose, for once.

Hopefully, he’d stop by again, and you could get him to try the Spicy Honey Chicken, next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowie, you sure did make a fool of yourself, didn't you? Heh. 
> 
> Still no Sans or others yet...like I said, this is going to be slow. Very, veeeery slow. But don't worry! We'll get there eventually. :)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next one we will have a bit of a time jump, just to move things forwards a little.   
> Thanks for stopping by! :DDD I hope your days are all lovely, just like you! ;)


	3. Chinese Donuts - Sweet and Sugary!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the twist. >;D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUGE THANKS TO THE AMAZING, THE SPECTACULAR, THE INCREDIBLE GIGIREE FOR BETA-READING THIS CHAPTER, SAVING ME FROM THOSE OH-SO-IRRITATING TYPOS, AND JUST GENERALLY BEING A HUGE FANTASTIC HELP.   
> Her fic Just Enough updated pretty recently! If you haven't checked it out yet, PLEASE do!!!! It's amazing.

You did, in fact, see him again. And again. And again. He became at first a frequent customer, and then a familiar regular with tics and tendencies that you, Lauren, Macy, and even Ming picked up on.

 

He became oolong-dude. You protested the nickname, but Macy suggested it and Lauren couldn't stop laughing, so it stuck. Personally, you thought he seemed kind of… maybe regal? Formal? Composed? Too put-together to have part of his nickname be “dude,” anyway. (Macy swore up and down that he came in on one of your days off wearing a Hawaiian shirt and covered in dirt and grass stains, but you just couldn't reconcile the image in your head. Whenever saw him, he looked like he just came in from a business meeting, or a mildly formal...something or other.)

 

Whenever one of you saw him coming in, it was passed along to whoever was closest to the drink station.

 

“Oolong-dude heading in, I have to get three tables white rice, you wanna get his drink, Lauren?”

 

“I'm on it Mace. Li, can you seat him?”

 

“Yep!”

 

That was usually how it went.You always enjoyed being able to seat him, and he was quickly becoming one of your favorite regulars. At this point, you felt like you might even be able to call oolong-dude a friend! You spent more and more time talking when he came in, and since he almost always stayed until buffet ended, you spent awhile talking with him after your shift before moving off to eat with Lauren and Mace. You practically had to be dragged away any time you got off early.

 

It had been almost two months since he started coming in. You saw him usually twice a week,  and occasionally three times. He said that he liked to come in after work, which explained the nice clothes.

 

Since you almost always regaled Ronnie with funny or just plain weird stories about work and the regular customers, oolong-dude came up a few times.

 

Okay, that was a lie. oolong-dude came up...more than usual. Maybe even… a lot. And for some reason...your roommate found that fact  _ very  _ amusing.

 

You were getting ready for work, up at a reasonable time, for once. After being so late so many times, you finally managed to set an alarm for yourself that would get you up every morning. (It would at least get you up early enough for work unless you were really determined to be late.) It wouldn't bother Ronnie, since she was up at a ridiculously early time anyway. 

 

After pulling your shoes on and fixing your hair in a messy bun, you trotted into the kitchen to make yourself a quick breakfast. You could make it through work without eating something first, but your tummy would complain at you for it.

 

Ronnie was in the kitchen already, nursing a water bottle as she scrolled through something on her phone. She was in a sports bra and athletic shorts, with her lovely dark hair expertly twisted into an effective, if slightly disheveled bun. You had always been impressed with how good she was with her hair, and how attractive she managed to look even sweaty and tired. Your own buns always seemed messy and lopsided in comparison. You figured she must have gone running already. You stuck out your tongue at her, which got you little more than an eye roll, before making your way to the fridge to see if you could dig out some leftovers to reheat. But suddenly, you were struck with the urge to be a little mischievous.

 

“Morning Ron.” You greeted casually, already knowing how she’d react. You had to fight to keep the smile off your face, and you quickly picked up a juice box to hide it. There was a reason she told people to call her  _ Ronnie. _

 

Almost immediately, she slammed her water bottle back on the table and glared at you warningly.

 

“No.” She said. You tried your best not to giggle, and keep a serious face, but you weren’t sure how long it would last.

 

“What’s the matter,  _ Ron _ ?” You sang sweetly, peering at her over your juice. “Are you feeling alright? Is something wrong?”

 

There was a loud  _ skeerrch  _ as she quickly and forcefully pushed her chair back with her hands braced on the table. You couldn't hold it in, and you immediately started giggling, even as you back pedaled away from her and she marched towards you. You tossed the juice box back in the fridge and darted away, and you heard Ronnie slam it shut as she gave chase.

 

“Come here, you little twerp! You want to play that game, you’re gonna regret it!” She was trying to sound angry but there was amusement laced in her words. You laughed again and scrambled around the couch, trying desperately to out maneuver her.

 

“Sorry  _ Ron,  _ but you’ll have to catch me first!”

 

“Call me Ron one more time-!”

 

You didn't quite make it to the safe zone - the bathroom - before you felt Ronnie trap your arms and waist in a vice grip and lift you off the ground.

 

“I surrender! Please!” You shrieked, laughing wildly. Ronnie was laughing too and she carried you back to the living room and threw you on ouch.

 

“Alright, you dork,” she said with her arms crossed in front of her. She was glaring at you but you couldn't seem to stop laughing. Pretty quickly though, she dropped the glare to smile and laugh with you instead. She plopped down next to you on the couch, spreading her arms over the back with her head leaned back lazily.

 

“If that was the zombie apocalypse you’d be getting your brains eaten out right now.” She said with a contented sigh.

 

You rolled your eyes. For some reason or another, Ronnie and JJ (whom you were attempting to get better acquainted with and who Ronnie had known since they were toddlers) were  _ obsessed  _ with, of all things, horror flicks and contingency plans for the zombie apocalypse. Like, Ronnie actually made you learn the fastest route to all the exits and where the “bug-out” bag was. You drew the line at “zombie fighting lessons,” where she planned to teach you with a baseball bat, human dummies, and something that would ‘splat’ sufficiently.

 

“Whatever! It wasn't the zombie apocalypse, and you aren't a zombie, so I’m safe.”

 

“Ah ah ah, I totally caught you, you never even touched the doorknob to the bathroom! There are  _ consequences,  _ for calling me that!”

 

“Ronnie, I have work-”

 

“I’ll let you go without any repercussions for not using the  _ correct  _ name, but only under one condition.”

 

“Fine. What are you demands?” You asked gamely, tucking your legs up underneath you on the couch. She gave you a familiar grin and suddenly you didn't feel like laughing anymore. You knew that grin. It meant only bad things.

 

“You can’t seem to stop talking about a certain regular of yours… and I want to know his real name, so I can tease you appropriately. And him, if necessary.” 

 

Yep. It was  _ that  _ grin.

 

You felt a heat suffuse your cheeks and you hopped off the couch so you could go and hide your face in the fridge again.

 

“Sorry Ronnie,” you tittered, “but I have no idea what you’re talking about.” You grabbed the milk and placed it on the small counter space, before heading to the pantry to dig out your Reeses Puffs. You heard the chair scrape as Ronnie sat down at the table again.

 

“Uh-huh,” she said, clearly doubtful. “Don’t worry, you’ll tell me eventually.”

 

You tried to muster up the will to glare at her over your cereal, but instead you just sighed and rolled your eyes with a fond smile.

 

“Look,” You started, lifting your spoon in the air to gesture appropriately. “Even if I knew what regular you were talking about - which, by the way, I  _ don’t -” _

 

You ignored her scoff and plowed on.

 

“It doesn't matter, because I don't know the names of most of the regulars, anyway. They just come in and we have small talk, but I usually don't get their names, ironically enough.”

 

“So you're saying the only reason you aren't telling me is because you don't know his name? And not because…” You suddenly felt like maybe you should have skipped breakfast. “You have an  _ adorable,  _ schoolgirl  _ crush?” _

 

And there it was. 

 

You felt a heat rise rapidly in your face and you quickly tried to finish up your cereal so you could  _ get out of there. _

 

“Well, look at the time-”

 

“ _ I knew it!!!!” _

 

_ “I’LL SEE YOU AFTER WORK!” _

 

Her laughter always seemed to follow you out the door for one reason or another.

 

\---

 

Things were abnormally slow today, slow enough that Ming pulled out her electronic dictionary.

 

Ming had gotten her citizenship about a year ago, but she’d been in the country working towards it for more than a decade. Ming didn't throw a party or anything, even though you personally felt one was in order, but everyone was very, very proud of her for it.

 

She did, however, have to take it twice… because despite living in America for so long, her accent was still  _ very  _ thick. She made a habit of practicing and learning new words whenever she could, but you knew for a fact that she understood better than she spoke. Mostly because you were usually the one she went to for help, since you knew Chinese  _ and  _ English. It made explaining things a lot easier when it could be done in her mother language. (To be honest, you could speak Chinese - but lord help you if someone asked you to write it.)

 

You knew, the moment you heard the familiar electronic chime of the translator booting up, that unless there was a sudden surge of people within the next 15 minutes, you’d be getting off early.

 

But right now it was the middle of your shift and you were wiping down chairs for the third time, having already straightened and cleaned the menus, the doors, the counter, the glass divider…

 

Since it was a weekday, it was just you for the buffet. It was also just…normally a lot busier than this. It was pretty much dead, actually. You had one regular in here earlier (Another customer who was larger and preferred certain booths, and who almost always wore a Hawaiian shirt. You liked to talk about comics and marvel movies whenever he came by.He was actually in your political science class!) But he walked out the door with a wave and the cheerful tinkling of the bell.

 

Of course, it’s not like he had been the only customer all day. But it was inching closer and closer to one o’clock, and work had slowed to a crawl.

 

You were about to head over to Ming, to see if you could help her with any of the words, when finally,  _ finally,  _ you heard the bell over the door chime. Customers!

 

You immediately veered off to wait by the menu podium with a smile already inching its way over your face. When you saw who came in, it turned even brighter. A big white furry monster in a polo shirt and with golden hair. You waited for Ming to say “how are you?” in the exact same rhythm and cadence she always did before greeting him yourself. She always said it the same way, as though she didn't quite understand that she could use a different inflection in her voice for it. It always made you smile a little.

 

“Hi there!” You chirped. “How’s it going today?”

 

He smiled back at you and gave a small wave, which you returned enthusiastically.

 

“Very well, thank you, my dear! And how are you?” 

 

“I’m great!” You said, punctuating the “great” by bouncing up on the balls of your feet. “Just one today?”

 

“Actually,” he said cheerfully, “today there will be two!” You could see his smile grow wider, wide enough, in fact, that for the first time you actually saw an open mouthed smiled form, teeth and everything! You noticed immediately that he had very sharp canines. Was it because he was a goat that ate meat? You had looked it up, after the...incident. Regular, non-monster goats didn't eat meat. They did tend to eat a lot of trash though, actually you had read some pretty interesting stuff -

 

You quickly ended that train of thought before it took you somewhere you didn't want to go. There was no need to get started on _that_ again.

 

Instead you looked down (or rather, lowered your head to a normal height, because he was  _ so  _ very tall,) to see another person standing right beside him.

 

They were a… boy? Girl? You honestly weren’t quite sure. You guess you could just say human? It felt kind of weird, but you supposed it made sense, as they were with a monster. Juxtaposed, it was a little less weird…you had trouble thinking “human” and “monster” instead of “person.” Unless you were wondering whether or not goat monster men ate meat.

 

They had straight brown locks that curled inward a little at the ends, that was cut just below their chin, and bangs that, for the most part, obscured their eyes.

 

They looked pretty young, and just like with their gender, you couldn't quite tell how old they were, except that they were probably a kid. The blinding smile they gave you dispersed your wandering thoughts, however, and you smiled back.

 

“Hi there! Oh, I love your shirt!” You said, pointing. On the front of the kid’s shirt was a bright red and white rocket ship, with stars shining in the background, and a little UFO chasing after it. You thought it was adorable. 

 

“Thanks!” They said excitedly. They bounced up and down on their feet and shook their fists a little as they spoke. “My uncle got it for me last Christmas. And Dad got me these awesome shoes!”

 

They stomped their foot and lights flashed brightly from the bottom. You felt your eyes widen and you gasped in delight, one hand flying to cradle your cheek in genuine delight.

 

“Oh my gosh! I  _ love  _ those, oh man, I had so many pairs as a kid!!!” Anything that lit up was  _ amazing  _ in your book. The way this kid was talking, you figured they were probably pretty young - and you wanted to be irritated, but you couldn't bring yourself to be. It wasn't like it was  _ unusual  _ for even kids to be taller than you. Five feet wasn't hard to beat. You went on.

 

“Those shoes are the  _ best -  _ well,  _ almost  _ the best. I think Heelies take the cake! I wish I still had a pair, rolling around the halls in school before they got banned was so much fun-” You suddenly realized you were rambling, and that Ming was probably watching you closely from the counter. You quickly picked up two menus and tucked them against your chest. “Oh, sorry, sorry, here, follow me! Right this way.”

 

“No need to apologize! Lead the way.” Oolong-dude rumbled at you. Oh, you really loved it whenever he spoke. His voice was very deep, almost soothing, but also a little powerful. You flashed him a grateful smile over your shoulder.

 

You began leading them to Oolong-dude’s favorite booth, but before you took more than two steps the kid was walking beside you, looking up at you with their narrow eyes peering through their bangs curiously.

 

“What are Heelies? You rolled around in them? Are they like skates?” The questions were quick and excited, one after another.

 

You smiled and kept walking, but you were quietly delighted that they seemed so interested in your silly rambling. You could talk for ages, about nearly anything and everything.

 

“Oh yeah! Heelies were these super cool shoes, with wheels you could pop in and out of the heels! So you put them in your shoes and lift up your toes - like this -” you took a moment to stop and demonstrate in front of the table before setting their menus down, and then continued. “- and if you had a few steps to get you started, you could roll, and it was awesome! I was actually pretty bad at them, but they were a lot of fun. Some of the kids learned some really cool tricks!” You smiled contentedly and then clapped your hands together.

 

“But sorry! I’m rambling. Do you two know what you’d like to drink?”

 

“Coke!” The kid chirped. They had shot into the booth and were now bouncing up and down with a smile.

 

Normally, you’d just nod and repeat “Coke,” because most people could never tell the difference. But Oolong-dude was one of your favorite regulars...and the human kid with him was adorable. 

 

“Oh hey, sorry, kiddo, but is Pepsi okay? We have Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew, too, but we only have Pepsi products.”

 

They crossed their arms and pursed their lips, clearly displeased with this turn of events. Oolong-dude interrupted their pouting, and you perked right up. 

 

“Now Frisk, let's not be rude to our kind waitress. What are you going to drink?”

 

You felt like you were glowing a little. You always enjoyed getting compliments from customers, and you were extra glad you weren't really required to respond to this one. They always left you fumbling for words. The kid - Frisk? - gave you an indiscernible look before answering.

 

“I’ll have a Pepsi then, please.”

 

You gave them a thumbs up.

 

“One Pepsi, coming right up! And the usual for you?”

 

He gave you his typical close-lipped smile and nodded.

 

You nodded back and grinned widely before scampering off to get their drinks. Luckily, no one else came in while you were taking so long seating them; Ming seemed content to let you chat them up a bit more than usual since you had already gotten so much done.

 

You brought their drinks back out to the table, and almost as soon as you stopped to put everything down, the kid was asking you more questions.

 

“So how long have you worked here?” They asked curiously.

 

“Hm? Oh, maybe getting close to a few years that this point? I’ve been full time for pretty much a year now, but I worked part time for several summers before that.” You carefully set the Pepsi down in front of them, and they grabbed it and pulled it close to them so they could begin sipping it immediately. After a big gulp, they released a satisfied sigh and flashed you another smile.

 

“That’s neat! Can you speak Chinese?”

 

As you set down the teapot, you nodded.

 

“As a matter of fact, I can!” you said proudly. “I can speak it pretty fluently, but I can't really write or read at all, I was never taught. It's been really helpful working here of course, things are lost in translation sometimes, you know?” 

 

You tucked your tray back under your arm. You knew you were probably pushing it with all the chatter, but Oolong-dude’s (comparatively) tiny human companion was just as much fun to talk with as he was!

 

“That's so cool! I know sign language, because when I was little I didn't really like talking much! But knowing Chinese sounds really cool too! Hey, do you think you could teach-?”

 

They were interrupted by Ming yelling for you.

 

“Li! We have customer! You go!” She waved towards the lobby impatiently and you winced a little. You must not have heard the chime, you were so caught up talking.

 

“Oh, sorry, but I’ve gotta run! Do you two need anything else before I go?” You turned to look at oolong-dude as you said this, and suddenly you felt heat rise to your face.

 

He was smiling at you with an indescribable  _ warmth,  _ and you felt like you were about to combust from all of the positive attention. You also had  _ no idea  _ why he was smiling at you like that, but it was probably the happiest you’d ever seen him. There was just something so...earnest, about it. Like it was so happy, it made  _ you  _ happy.

 

Unbidden, Ronnie’s words from earlier that day shoved their way to the forefront of your mind.

 

_ “You have an  _ **_adorable_ ** _ , schoolgirl  _ **_crush_ ** _?” _

 

Oh. Oh no. That might...oh man... _ not again… _

 

“No thank you, my dear! I think we’re alright.” He stood up from his seat in the booth and you backed up to give him some more room to get out. You could already feel the heat rising to your face completely unprompted, and suddenly you were noticing things you  _ did not want to notice.  _ He was tall, and, and well built, and...

 

“A-Alrighty then! Ah, enjoy your meal, guys! I ah, gotta g- I already said that! Mm, uh, yep!” 

 

You flashed a shaky smile and whipped around so quickly it knocked your bun a little loose, but you didn't have the time to fix it right then. You quickly seated the new customers and did a hasty fix for your hair, before taking a moment to lean against the counter and take a few deep breaths.

 

This was, of course, an over reaction. But it happened  _ again.  _ It always happened. 

 

You mom probably put it best, back when you had only about a zillion crushes in high school.

 

_ “You’re the kind of girl who wears her heart on her sleeve and then hands it over as long as someone asks politely. You just love easily, baby. It might put you through a lot of disappointment and heartbreak at first… but it will be worth it when you find the right person. Because you love easily but you love so, so strongly.” _

 

You loved your mom, and the way she said it was  _ wonderful,  _ and it made you feel amazing, when she first told you that. You had asked your current crush at the time out, and he had put you down  _ horribly.  _ Hearing those words, that the reason you hurt so much was because you loved so strongly? It brought you back to life. She made it sound like, like a superpower or something!

 

But after so long with so much of the same thing...you almost wished you could lock your heart up so you wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.

 

But you decided to try and take it in stride, like you always did. Just… keep on moving forward! You would have to think on your feelings later, sit down and really figure out how you wanted to approach this. Make a decision later.

 

Right now, there was a table of three waiting on their drinks!

 

You brought around two sprites and a sweet tea for some friendly hispanic men who were covered in paint-stained clothes, obviously coming in for a break from work. They didn’t talk to you much, but they did give you very big, very friendly smiles.

 

No one else had come in while you were getting your drinks, though you did hear the phone ring as you were bringing them out. Ming wasn’t at the register, so you figured she was in the back helping Chef with a to-go order. Knowing she would call for you if she needed you, you grabbed a rag from the cleaning area and set to wiping down the chairs and booths...again. It was best to look busy, Ming didn’t really appreciate loitering. 

 

You started with table one, only two booths away from oolong-dude and the cute kiddo he brought with him. Thinking about their light up shoes brought a smile to your face. You began humming a jaunty tune quietly under your breath as you placed one knee in the seat to be sure you could reach all the way. Short legs meant short arms.

 

You were so caught up in your private concert it took you a while (and moving on to table two) to hear someone calling for you. It also took you a bit because they were saying “Li” without a Chinese accent.

 

“Hey! Hey! Miss Li? Hey Miss Li?” You startled a bit and jumped, and knocked your glasses on the table. 

 

“Oh oh oh! S-Sorry, sorry! I didn’t hear you!” Hastily shoving them back on your face, perhaps a little crookedly, you turned to face Frisk(?) who was on their knees in the booth and leaning over the back of it grin widely at you. “Did you need something?”

 

“Yeah!” They chirped. “Your name is Li, right?” 

 

You blinked at them owlishly. You had thought they needed a hot mustard or something, but it looked like they just had more questions to ask you instead. You finally straightened your glasses all the way and removed yourself fully from the seat, casting a glance at the entryway as you did so. Still no new customers.

 

“Uhm, well, yes and no? It-” Before you were even done speaking, the kid turned back to Oolong-dude and you had to fight back the heat crawling up your neck as your gaze shifted to him as well. (You could  _ not  _ keep calling him that, no matter how funny Lauren or Macy thought it was) They planted both hands on the table and glared at him accusingly.

 

“But Dad, I thought you said her name was Li? And you said you come here all the time, so-”

 

Oolong-dude had a light pink just barely peeking through some of the pristine white fur on his cheeks, though it was further obscured by his golden beard. (Another thing you wondered about; white fur but golden facial hair? This time you were determined to keep from spewing some nonsense, like maybe asking him if it was dyed or something-)

 

“Oh golly, that must have been my mistake! My most sincere apologies. We were never formally introduced, but I do hear Ming call for you very often, so I simply assumed.” 

 

You suddenly realized he was talking to you and banished all thoughts of hair dye from your mind. You scooted closer to their table so you weren’t standing awkwardly behind his kid (they had called him dad? That was -  _ adorable. _ ) while you talked.

 

“O-Oh! Oh, uhm, gosh, don’t - don’t worry about it. My name is _____, but you can call me Li, or, anything, really! It’s just the nickname Ming gave me, a little bit easier for her to pronounce than my real name, you know? It’s just, you know, silly...uhm…”

 

This was awful! You felt like your cheeks were on fire and despite your protests you couldn’t stop your hands from fidgeting with loose strands of hair or readjusting your perfectly placed glasses. It was so easy to talk earlier, and suddenly it was like it was your first day of work all over again. Stumbling over your words and too shy to carry on a conversation that extended past “Do you need a refill!? Sorry!”

 

He smiled his close lipped smile at you again. He opened his mouth to speak, but the excitable brunette beat him to it.

 

“I’m Frisk! And this is my Dad. His name is Asgore. But why does she call you Li? Is it Chinese? Does it mean something?”

 

Ooooh darn, oh no oh no oh darn. Oh. The litany of questions is never ending, both entertaining and a little blush-inducing at the same time.

 

You did your very, very best to ignore the mantra looping in your thoughts,  _ adorable schoolgirl crush,  _ and act like a regular, well adjusted human being. And not look at Oolong - at  _ Asgore.  _ (Did he have to have such a nice name though? It sounded - regal!) 

 

You couldn’t even pretend not to know what it meant, because Frisk already asked you if you knew Chinese, and you had said yes. You decided the best course of action was to avoid looking at Asgore and also try not to seem rude while doing it. You stole another glance at the front counter, half hoping for Ming or a customer to drag you away, but also wanting to keep talking at the same time.

 

“Oh, uhm, it means b-beautiful. I just think of it as a nickname though. Nothing special.” You smiled at Frisk, feeling some of your confidence return when they smiled back.

 

“That’s awesome!” They crowed. “Hey, does this count as my first Chinese lesson? Will you teach me some Chinese? Please, Li?” They clasped their hands in front of them as if they were begging, and the fact that they were already on their knees in the booth only made the pose even more perfect.

 

You couldn’t help but laugh, and you heard Asgore chuckling as well. For some reason, it seemed to drain most of the tension from your body. Your smile came a lot easier.

 

“You know what? Sure thing, Frisk! I’ll give you a few words every time you come in, if you want? Does that sound good?” You felt a happy warmth in your tummy when you saw their eyes practically light up at your offer. You had a feeling very few people could resist this kid and their smile.

 

“Thank you so much, Li.” Asgore said to you. You saw the tail end of that really, really happy smile again. “May I call you Li?”

 

You nodded quickly, automatically pushing your glasses back up the bridge of your nose when they slipped.

 

“Yeah! That’s fine.” Abruptly, you remembered you did in fact have a job to do. “Oh! But while I’m over here, do either of you need anything else? Everything good?” As soon as the words left your mouth, Frisk snatched their cup and drained the remaining quarter of their soda. 

 

“Can I have more?” They asked, holding the cup out for you to take.

 

Asgore gave them a meaningful look, the kind that reminds children of manners at church and to wash their hands before dinner.

 

Frisk looked a little bit sheepish when they tacked on the sweetest “please” you had ever heard.

 

“Sure thing! I’ll be right back with it, Frisk. And how about your first word with it, too?” 

 

They were practically vibrating in their seat.

 

“Yes!” Another quick glance at Asgore. “Please! Yes please!”

 

You laughed and went to refill their Pepsi. It seemed like your heart rate had finally calmed down, and you could function normally again. And, Frisk was a really cute kid.

 

The rest of your shift seemed to fly by. You spent a lot of it talking up Frisk and Asgore at their table, and did your best to keep busy enough that Ming wouldn’t get onto you for it. Things picked up for about thirty minutes, but after everyone was seated and happy, it was pretty easy to keep things running smoothly. You taught Frisk the words for hello and goodbye, and advised them to say goodbye and thank you to Ming on the way out. You knew Ming would absolutely adore it, and probably fawn over Frisk the next time they came in.

 

You thought that part of the reason Asgore and his child stayed so long was on Frisk’s insistence, because they sat and talked with each other long after they finished eating. You decided it was definitely not to talk to you though - that would have been a little ridiculous. Besides, you could see them deep in conversation from across the restaurant. Definitely not staying for you. (You were glad you weren’t so full of yourself to assume as much.)

 

Finally, 1:30 rolled around, and Ming waved you off to go eat. It had stayed slow all day, but you were still feeling a little sweaty, and definitely ready for something to eat. As you were setting your purse down in table one, you saw the bright, flashing lights of Frisk’s shoes as they quickly skipped over to you.

 

“It was really nice meeting you, Li!” Frisk grinned. “ _ Thank you!”  _ they said in Chinese. You smiled back.

 

“Hey, good job!  _ But it’s going to take a while to learn everything, you know!”  _ You laughed when Frisk’s eyes went huge at your fluid Chinese. They seemed absolutely taken with the language. It made you feel that happy, contented warmth in your belly. They really did seem like a sweet kid.

 

“Hey Li? You guys are hiring, right?”

 

That seemed like an odd question for a kid to ask. 

 

“Yeah, we are! Are you thinking of applying?” You asked jokingly. “Unfortunately, you’ve gotta be at least 15 years old, Frisk.”

 

Frisk’s eyes seemed to twinkle mischievously.

 

“I’m not! But I might later, I turn 15 in two years. But my Uncle is looking for a job, do you think he could get a job here?” 

 

Frisk’s age caught you incredibly off guard. They were 13? And still wearing cute cartoony t-shirts with awesome light up sneakers? Your surprise caused you to stutter a bit when you answered.

 

“O-Oh. Yeah! We’re uh, we’re always hiring, Frisk. Uhm. Just tell him to come in and talk to Ming about it! Oh, and, hm, he can call this number if he has any questions!”

 

You quickly pulled out an old receipt and a pen from your purse, and scribbled your cellphone number on it. You figured he could probably find Tiny China’s number online, or ask you if he called. But you knew for a fact if he called in, Ming would assume he was ordering food, and it would only be more confusing from there. And besides! You were alway happy to get new coworkers, and you liked helping them out whenever you could.

 

You handed the paper to Frisk who took it from you and quickly folded it into a neat little square before shoving it in their pocket.

 

“Thanks! I’ll tell him!  _ Goodbye!”  _ Frisk said goodbye in Chinese before suddenly wrapping themselves around your waist. They were taller than you, so they were bending over a little to do it, and they practically squeezed the life out of your with their hug. Almost as soon as they had grabbed on, though, they let go and scampered towards the front. Probably to say goodbye to Ming in Chinese, too.

 

You were still catching your breath when you felt a large, warm hand fall on your shoulder. You looked up to see, for the third time that day, the open-mouthed, pleasantly warm smile. In fact, you thought it was so warm that it brought that forgotten heat rushing straight back to your cheeks.

 

“Thank you so much for being so helpful and friendly with Frisk. It means more to me than you might know.” And that warm smile was directing 100% of it’s focus on you. And his hand was still on your shoulder. Oh dear.

 

“I-It’s not a big deal, really! I don’t think I’ve ever met such a sweet kid in my life. In fact, I think I might have a toothache, from how sweet they are!”

 

Oh, that was clever! You were very proud of yourself for that one, and even more so when you earned some deep chuckles from Asgore for your efforts. You adjusted your glasses and absolutely  _ beamed  _ at him.

 

He gave your shoulder one gentle thump, for good measure, then wished you a good day and walked off to pay for the meal.

 

If Frisk gave you a toothache, then Asgore was going to give you a heart attack.

 

Because your shift had led you to come to a decision on something, a lot easier and sooner than you thought you would.

 

You were 100% percent positive that you had an  _ adorable,  _ schoolgirl  _ crush  _ on one of your favorite regulars, and now you knew his name was Asgore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone confused yet? This is supposed to be a sansxreader, right???? RIGHT!? Right! The conflict's gotta come from somewhere, guys!  
> Slowburn for a reason, folks. ;)  
> Thanks so much for reading!!!! I hope you enjoyed! :DDDD


	4. Hunan Triple Delight - Delightful Surprises!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some girl talk, some lunch, and a pleasant phone call. :)

When you got home later that day, Ronnie managed to drag Oolong-dude’s - Asgore’s - name out of you. It probably had something to do with the fact that you had a big goofy smile on your face when you came in the door.

 

On the bright side, after your brief interrogation, and the admittance of the fact that you  _ might-probably-definitely _ have a crush on him, you celebrated with ice cream. 

 

But just because you admitted it didn't mean you knew what you were going to do about it yet. The whole situation was a little...odd.

 

The TV was playing old Psych reruns, and you were slowly working your way through a pint sized container of vanilla ice cream. You had made sure to put on your comfiest pajamas, the ones with little bunnies all over them.

 

Next to you on the couch, Ronnie sat criss-cross-apple-sauce, wearing shorts and an overly-large t-shirt and working on her own container of mint chocolate-chip. You knew that strawberry was her favorite, but JJ was allergic. Ronnie decided that it was time to have a Girl Talk, and that meant bringing JJ in for an outside opinion.

 

About ten minutes into the episode, JJ showed up at the door with a backpack, a large bag of spicy salsa chips, and her own tub of chocolate ice cream. Ronnie let her in while you peered over the back of the couch, spoon hanging out of your mouth precariously.

 

JJ dropped her bag on the floor and you shot her a smile and a wave after she and Ronnie finished squeezing the air out of each other.

 

“Hi JJ!” You chirped. You had hung out a few times, and you were excited to get a chance for a sleepover like this. JJ seemed pretty nice, and Ronnie spoke highly of her. (But never to her face.)

 

“Yo! What’s up, _____?” She waved back before shoving her food items into Ronnie’s arms to take a running jump over the back of the couch. You shrieked.

 

Her tiny pigtails were bouncing as she settled, and she was wearing an oversized sweatshirt and leggings. She stretched out across the entire couch and put her hands behind her head and her feet in your lap. You couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up out of your throat.

 

“Well just make yourself at home!” You said teasingly. JJ shot you a cheeky grin.

 

“I will, thanks! You guys can start the party now that I’m here. Ronnie! My snacks!” She held up one hand imperiously and gave it a little flick. You laughed again at the look on her face.

 

“I like your little pigtails!” You told her, “They’re really cute. Didn’t you use to wear your hair up in pigtails all the time?”

 

JJ groaned and moved an arm over her eyes dramatically.

 

“Yeah, don't remind me! I was such a dork, like oh my god. I finally got a cute, shorter haircut, and I usually have it down, but this is a sleepover, so I figured pigtails would be appropriate. Anyway-” Before she could say anymore, Ronnie cut her off by throwing her ice cream and chips into her stomach.

 

“Whoops!” She said cheerfully. “There you go JJ. Excuse me;  _ your majesty.  _ Now move or get a face full of my sweet ass.”

 

After a bit of grumbling JJ sat up, but only after Ronnie hovered her butt over JJ’s face threateningly. You had forgotten how much the they riled each other up.

 

Eventually the three of you managed to settle yourselves, with JJ in the middle and you and Ronnie on the ends. You all watched the TV for a few minutes before JJ spoke up.

 

“Even though I really love this episode, I think it's time we got down to business! _____, what’s this about a new crush? On a big goat monster, even?” JJ waggled her eyebrows at you suggestively. Or at least she tried to? You were pretty sure that was her intent. Probably.

 

Regardless of JJ’s eyebrow waggling skills (or lack thereof), you could already feel a heat begin to rise up your neck, and a smile slowly pull itself over your lips. At the same time, you were...really, really unsure how to feel about the whole thing. 

 

But you supposed that's why you had Ronnie and JJ there with you?

 

“O-Okay,” you started, “yes? I’m...pretty much positive I like him. He’s this really friendly regular at work…”

 

“She talks about him  _ all _ the time.” Ronnie chimed in. She gave JJ a little nudge and a smirk. JJ smirked back, and replied in a sing-song voice;

 

“So she’s in  _ loooove? _ ” 

 

Your head snapped to her immediately.

 

“I am not! I just…” You took a deep breath. “I don’t really know what to do about it? I’m not in  _ love-” _

 

“Oh I know, I was just teasing,” JJ reassured you with a smile. You gave her a small one in return before going on.

 

“Yeah, okay. So…” You paused for a moment, trying to gather your thoughts. Everything in your head seemed jumbled, and hard to put into words. There was a thick cloud of emotion that made it hard to sort through your thoughts because overwhelming feelings of trepidation and random bursts of excitement sent everything scattering before any of it ever reached your mouth.

 

“So...I have a crush on him. But I don’t know if I want to...act on it?” You took your glasses off and began opening and closing them rhythmically, studiously avoiding eye contact. You saw JJ shift out of the corner of your eye. Suddenly you felt like this would be a lot easier if it was just you and Ronnie. You knew Ronnie better, after all. You desperately hoped you wouldn't say something stupid. “He seems...way out of my league. He’s really polite and nice, and he talks about fancy tea a lot, and he seems like he might have a pretty serious job? And - and there’s the whole fact that he’s- he’s a goat?” 

 

Ronnie seemed to be studying you critically from across the couch. Oh no. Did that sound racist? Not again-

 

“N-Not that I have anything against goats! Or - or goat people! I just - it’s kind of odd? I’ve never been attracted to like, just a goat, so I mean- but that’s kind of racist too isn't it? He’s not a goat! I don’t like him  _ because  _ he’s a goat, or looks like one, but it makes it - different -” You weren’t sure if it was the topic of conversation, JJ’s presence, or Ronnie’s scrutinizing look that caused you to start spewing words. Maybe a combination of all three. Either way this was a disaster. You held your hands up to your face to cover the heat there and flung yourself against the couch cushions, curling your knees up in front of you.

 

“Oooooh, I’m sorry, this is awful and racist and I’m awful and not making any sense, just-” Thankfully, Ronnie stopped you before you could get anymore flustered. Or say something else, which was probably the real danger.

 

“Okay, so hold up on that part right there. I think you’re getting stuck on whether or not he’s a goat.” You watched as JJ popped open her bag of chips and began munching. Ronnie went for another scoop of her ice-cream while she spoke.

 

“I think you should forget that. You said you don’t like him  _ because  _ he’s a goat, and I know that whenever you come and talk about him it's mostly about what a great, friendly guy he is. You aren’t racist at all, _____, just worried about being rude. So you like his personality, right?” Ronnie punctuated her question by sticking the spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

 

“Yeah,” JJ said around a mouthful of chips, “if you’re worried about what somebody might say because you have a crush on Oolong-dude-”

 

You couldn't help but interrupt. You peeked out at them from between your fingers.

 

“He’s, uh- his name is Asgore-” 

 

JJ carried on cheerfully, even with your correction.

 

“-Asgore then! Anyway, forget everybody else! Some people might actually call you weird or gross for liking him. Because people are awful, sometimes. But that just means that  _ they _ have a problem, and that they suck.”

 

“And if that happens,” Ronnie jumped in, reaching over and taking ahold of your hand reassuringly, plying it away from your red face, “we’ll kick their asses.” She gave you a wink for good measure. “Nobody messes with my clique.”

 

JJ grinned and shot you two thumbs up

 

“That’s right! They’ll regret it if they do!” She sounded really earnest, and it surprised you a little. You kind of thought JJ was more Ronnie’s friend than yours, but… “I’ll hold them down and Ronnie will totally show them that they shouldn't mess with any of us!”

 

It was silly, but you actually felt yourself tearing up a bit. You squeezed Ronnie’s hand and she squeezed back, and you put your free hand  back on your cheek. It was still embarrassingly warm.

 

You wanted to say something, show some kind of gratitude, but the only noise that came out of your mouth was a little squeaky breath of air. JJ seemed to get the gist anyway, and moved the food out of your respective laps and onto the coffee table so she could squish you in a surprisingly strong hug.

 

You all ended up trading hugs and laughing together. You wiped at your eyes and gave them your biggest, brightest smile.

 

“You guys are the best.” You told them. You were so happy to have them there with you.

 

Ronnie smiled and relaxed back into the couch with her ice cream.

 

“What are friends for?”

 

You felt a warm, happy thrum inside your chest. 

 

After the sleepover with Ronnie and JJ, (which all in all was a total blast, and you were  _ much  _ better friends with JJ by the end of it,) you felt a lot better about having a crush on Asgore. But you only touched lightly on the matter of whether or not you wanted to  _ do  _ anything about it. Since both of them seemed very, very supportive of pursuing the crush...you mentally marked down a tentative  _ yes  _ for  _ take action.  _

 

You by no means were going to do  _ any  _ of the ridiculous things they suggested, like bring him flowers or sing songs or - heavens forbid - come right out and  _ tell him.  _ At least not yet! After so many mishaps with just  _ telling  _ your crushes you liked them, especially the ones who barely knew you existed and were way out of your league, you wanted to get to know Asgore first. It was a much better - and safer - plan to try something more serious after you were good friends.

 

Of course, you were also thoroughly warned not to get so far into the friend zone you could never come out, but you weren't too worried about that. At least, not yet, anyway. You supposed you’d cross that bridge when you came to it? When you told them so, Ronnie just smiled and said “Famous last words.”

 

Two days later and you were back at Tiny China, but this time it was to have an early lunch with your parents. Yes, they already ate there at least once a week, and you had it for lunch most days…

 

But eating without having to work beforehand was  _ different.  _ The food was all fresh, for one thing! You would be waited on, instead of having to get your own drink refills. And you got to chat however much you wanted!

 

Plus you made a point to actually sit down and talk with your parents at  _ least  _ once a month, though preferably more often. Tiny China was a pretty reasonable distance for both parties, and you would  _ never  _ get tired of the food.

 

So after loading up your plate and sitting down at the table, you broke your chopsticks apart enthusiastically, ready to begin.

 

You got exactly one bite of sesame chicken in your mouth before the same question that your parents always started with came out of your mother’s mouth.

 

“So sweetheart, how’s school? Keeping those grades up?”

 

Same as ever. Your mom just wanted you to have a successful, comfortable life, and you understood that. But still… a different conversation starter would be nice every once awhile.

 

But oh well! You quickly finished your bite and shot your mom a fond, if exasperated smile.

 

“Sure am, Mom! I’ve got A’s in everything, and a good B in math…” That might have been a bit of an exaggeration. You were scraping by with that B in math. You could do simple stuff easily - count change, find the perimeter, beginners algebra - but beyond that you started struggling. It was probably because you had a pretty poor mindset about the whole thing. You didn't enjoy math, so you tended to focus on what you knew you could apply to your life and put...significantly less effort towards the rest. Whoops?

 

Your mom gave you a suspicious look but finally relented with an eye-roll as your dad sat down across from you at the table. Except your mom never really gave up that easily.

 

“Well that’s good. But you  _ really  _ should try and get that B up, _____. You know, I was talking to Ming and her friend’s son is in a calculus class! Maybe he could tutor you!”

 

You shared a look with your dad and grabbed a few pieces of beef to munch on. He was a lot more relaxed about school, but if you started to really fumble anything he’d be a lot more likely to talk to you about it. Mom was just a worry-wort, and she had, unfortunately, passed that on to you. But you tended to worry about different things.

 

“Would this son just so happen to be Daniel, the kid still in high school? I don’t want tutoring from a high schooler, mom, though I’m sure he’s very smart. I’ll get by.”

 

Your mom pursed her lips for just a moment, but then nodded, and a gentle smile came over her face instead. 

 

“I know, sweetheart. But you know how I am!” She gave a little wave of her hand as if to brush away her previous words, and your dad chose that moment to steal a piece of shrimp off of your mom’s plate.

 

She swatted at him and you laughed. You watched as he stole one more piece from her before she could stop him. Your father blinked at her innocently and you stifled your giggles behind your hand.

 

“So, Bun Bun, how have you been? Any new boyfriends I need to chase off?”

 

You furiously fought down the heat threatening to spill across your face. It was always funny when dad teased mom, but not so much when he turned it on you.

 

“Dad!” 

 

He burst into laughter and your mother began giggling beside him, so you rolled your eyes at the both of them and shoved rice into your mouth. You found yourself smiling anyway.

 

“Oh, honey, you know she doesn't like it when you tease her about boys.” Your mom reached over and grabbed your hand. “You’ll find that special one eventually!” She gave your hand a tight squeeze before letting go again.

 

You swallowed, and then took a moment to absolutely beam at your mom. She was the best.

 

“Thanks, Mommy. I know I will.”

 

Lunch was pretty typical, and it was a weekday so things weren’t too busy. Your parents told you all about the home renovation shows they were watching, and the ideas it was giving them for their own house. And you told them stories about your in-class acquaintances, things you’d read recently, and what you’d gotten up to with Ronnie - and lately, JJ. You also shared a fair number of tidbits about the goings-ons at work, and although you tried to steer clear of Asgore...you couldn't help yourself.

 

You ended up telling them about your  _ very  _ embarrassing, but a lot funnier in hindsight encounter where you fumbled and stuttered through a conversation to ask him if goats were vegetarians. You told them about Frisk, and explained how you might be giving them short Chinese lessons if they came in often enough.

 

The conversation stalled for a bit when they asked if Frisk was a boy or a girl. You...honestly couldn't tell?

 

“I mean. I don't want to just waltz up and ask Frisk that? What if h- sh- argh,  _ Frisk _ gets upset that I couldn't tell? And Asgore is Frisk’s adoptive dad, I think, and I know monsters are a lot more casual about it than humans?” You shook your head in dismay. You  _ knew  _ that if you tried to ask about it, you’d probably have another “are goats vegetarian” level incident.

 

“So are you just going to not bring it up?” Your dad asked. Again, you shrugged helplessly. 

 

Both your mom and dad laughed a little about that. They probably thought you were being a little silly, and while that was most likely true, you didn’t feel like risking it at the time. The conversation carried on.

 

As per usual, your parents finished eating before you did. You tended to be more of a grazer, (don't think about goats) and took forever to finish up a meal, mostly because you spent so much time talking. But you also liked to talk with whoever was working that day, and having a chat with Ming or Chef when you weren't worn out from working was fantastic. Whatever the reason, the end result was that you tended to hang around long after your parents left.

 

What was definitely  _ not _ per usual, was standing up to get another plate as you told your parents goodbye, and suddenly having a familiar teenager’s arms hooked around your neck. The kid nearly bowled you over.

 

“Li! Oh my gosh hi!!! How are you?” You could hear the smile in Frisk’s voice as they excitedly chattered into your ear, but you were still trying to regain equilibrium from their surprise attack. You hadn’t even considered that Asgore - and apparently Frisk again - might come in while you were with your parents!

 

“H-Hi Frisk! Wow, I’m great! How are you? You certainly seem pretty, uh, energized?” You winced. Being caught off guard did nothing for your conversational skills. (And to think, you had thought you were so much better now, too!)

 

“I’m fantastic!” Frisk chirped, releasing you from their hold. You saw them look over at your parents - who were both looking very amused, and if they had startled at all they weren't showing it - and then their smile got even bigger.

 

“Hello! I’m Frisk! It’s nice to meet you!” Frisk punctuated their statement by bouncing happily on the balls of their feet. 

 

Your mom smiled and waved, and your dad gave Frisk a grin and a small nod. 

 

“Hello there Frisk, it’s very nice to meet you too!” your mother said warmly. “_____ has told us so much about you! I hear you want to learn Chinese?”

 

You watched as Frisk’s eyes lit up.

 

“Yes! It sounds so cool when people speak it, and I love learning languages! Do you know Chinese too?”

 

Your mom nodded and you could already feel a big warm smile worming its way onto your face. Frisk was such a great kid. And you could tell your mom liked them already.

 

“Yes of course. In fact, I’m the one who taught _____.” Your mom shot Frisk a mischievous look and a wink. “So when you think about it, I’m like the master teacher.” Frisk burst into giggles and you smiled again.

 

Your mom really  _ was  _ a great teacher, in your opinion. At least you thought so, she was always very patient with you.

 

Frisk’s smile probably could have outshone the sun. They turned around and it got even brighter, if that was possible.

 

“Hey dad, look! These are Li’s parents!” Frisk turned back to your mother, and suddenly became very serious. “Don’t worry, Li’s mom! I’m sure Li is gonna be an awesome teacher!”

 

Even though that was  _ really cute,  _ the moment Frisk said “dad” you might as well have spontaneously combusted. You were only thankful that everyone’s attention seemed to swing naturally towards Asgore as he approached, so hopefully no one saw how quickly your cheeks reddened. (Oh god, was it weird to have a crush on someone’s dad??? Ronnie always said you liked the actors that were “dad hot…” You decided not to think about it.)

 

Of course, there was no way for you to know how observant Frisk could be. (They noticed.)

 

_ Your _ dad stepped up to Asgore and the two exchanged a friendly handshake while you tried to control your blush through sheer willpower.

 

Asgore was giving him his closed smile that you were so familiar with, and his large furry hands pretty much engulfed your dad’s.

 

“Ah, hello there! It’s very nice to meet you. My name is Asgore. Your daughter is always such a pleasure to talk to.” Asgore had both of his big furry paws grasping your father’s, and he gave him one good hand shake before letting go. Your father smiled before stepping back and wrapping an arm around around your mom’s waist.

 

“My name is Marcus, and this is my  _ lovely  _ wife, Yijun.”

 

Asgore nodded to both of them and your mom beamed, but still fluttered one hand at your dad.

 

“Oh, please just call me June! _____ tells us you’re one of her favorite regulars here, Asgore. She says you’re always so much fun to talk with!”

 

Asgore blushed. You were definitely positive this time -  _ he blushed.  _ And it was really  _ really  _ adorable. And it was making you blush too. Also, you couldn’t believe your mom had just said that!? Being able to turn invisible sounded fantastic right about then.

 

Asgore gave a soft little chuckle and you studiously avoided making eye contact, but you were drawn to look at him again when he addressed you.

 

“Well, thank you for your compliments, Miss Li.” His eyes scrunched up with the smile he shot your way.

 

You gave him one back and nodded, but it dislodged your glasses and you fumbled with them for a moment before letting out a stuttered “Y-You’re welcome!”

 

Asgore turned back to your parents again. “It’s been such a pleasure to meet you June, Marcus. And Li - er, _____, is always a pleasure as well! She has never failed to be friendly, and she has an astounding work ethic. You’re raised a wonderful young lady here.” He chuckled again and reached down to put one hand on Frisk’s head. “I only hope that Frisk here could grow up to be just as hardworking and kind as she is.” Frisk smiled and gave a thumbs up.

 

You could tell by the look in your mother’s eyes and the small smile on your dad’s face that they already really, really liked Asgore. Your mom always loved good manners. Asgore apologized for keeping them, and your parents finally said their goodbyes, and you got two hugs from both of them, and one kiss on the cheek from your mom.

 

“Bye sweetheart! We’ll see you Sunday. Love you!” Your mom waved as she made her way towards the exit, your dad trailed behind her.

 

“Bye mom, bye dad! Love you too!”

 

“See you later bunny. Have a good day.”

 

After they left, it was just Asgore, Frisk and you standing near the table. Frisk grinned up at you.

 

“Your parents are really nice! Oh! Li, can we sit with you?” Frisk was practically vibrating with anticipation, and you weren’t sure you could turn them down when they were making that face. Thinking about it, though, you’d  _ love  _ to get the chance to finally sit down and talk with Asgore and Frisk, instead of hovering near their booth or trying to get in those last few words before Macy dragged you away so they could leave.

 

“Yeah! That sounds awesome! Uhm, do you two just want to take my parents’ spots? I know you normally sit in the booth…” You pushed your glasses back up the bridge of your nose and gave them a wobbly smile. Asgore lifted up one hand as if waving away your concerns.

 

“No, no! Don’t feel inclined to move on our behalf. We’ll just sit here.” That settled that, so you told them you’d grab their drinks and quickly swept away your parents’ dirty plates and cups. While you were making the oolong tea though, your thoughts wandered back to what Asgore had said.

 

He’d told your parents that they’d raised a wonderful young lady. It almost sounded like...he didn’t quite think of you as someone on his level? Like maybe...you were more of a kid. Like Frisk. (Your mind went to goat - and then to kid, and weren’t baby goats called kids? Were you and Frisk baby goats? You really needed to derail this train of thought-)

 

You really didn’t know what to think about that, so you decided not to. With a tea and Mountain Dew (Frisk said they wanted to mix things up) balanced on your tray, you wandered back into the open and got ready to enjoy the rest of your meal.

 

You met Frisk by the bar and patiently answered question after question about what food was good, which was your favorite, what were those things over there?

 

Eventually the three of you were settled down at the table and ready to eat. You gave Frisk and Asgore a smile, trying to think of what to talk about. Your mind was, unfortunately, drawing a huge blank. Should you talk about your parents? (Was that a good idea? They like just met them, do they want to hear more? Was it self-centered to immediately start talking about your life?)

 

Maybe you could ask something generic, like how school was going for Frisk? But was that okay? This was only the second time you’d met Frisk! And besides, you knew how mundane that question could get, sometimes. Maybe you could-

 

Your train of thought was, thankfully, derailed by Asgore.

 

“So Li, last time you mentioned you were doing a speech for one of your classes? How is that going, my dear?”

 

Aha! Yes, the school questions could get tedious, but your parents usually asked about grades. Asgore was asking you about a project that you actually found yourself enjoying recently.

 

Frisk perked up when they heard that, and only a fondly exasperated look from Asgore kept them from talking with food in their mouth. For about thirty seconds.

 

“Wow! You’re writing a speech? What’s it about?”

 

You finished your own bite of sesame and adjusted your glasses before answering. 

 

“It’s a persuasive essay, and we were allowed to choose any topic we wanted. My teacher even said it could be something ridiculous, so mine is trying to convince my listeners that hotdogs and hotcats, and cats and dogs in general, are equally amazing.”

 

The giggle Frisk let out had you grinning, and a glance to Asgore’s amused face had you blushing and scratching at your arm sheepishly.

 

“It’s, a-ah, just you know, something silly to have fun with. A lot of people tend to be “dog people” or “cat people,” so I thought it’d be interesting to address. The uhm, whole project is really just to get us used to speaking.” Oh jeez. Thinking about it now made it seem really dorky. Why dogs and cats are both good? You hoped your face wasn't looking to red, you were feeling a little embarrassed.

 

Luckily for you, Frisk was a very sweet child, and you appreciated them very much when they responded to you around a mouthful of rice.

 

“That’s so cool! It’s like what dad does! He has to give people speeches and convince them of really important things, like why Monsters are just as nice and friendly as Humans, and tell them that we can all just get along and stuff.”

 

Wow. Frisk’s grin was so big and bright and proud it almost hurt to look at, and the whole thing really tugged on your heartstrings.

 

“That’s amazing!” You said, smiling at Asgore. You could barely believe your eyes when you saw a dusting of pink peeking out from behind his fur and beard. If he was blushing then you were probably completely red-faced.

 

“Ah, yes, my position at the embassy does require quite a few speeches. It’s been an uphill battle, but I believe that we are making progress, ever so slowly.” He smiled at you sincerely, and his expression softened into a thoughtful one. “Although, that's quite a brave stance. It's not always the easiest position to argue on a neutral point. Very often, you're forced to make a choice.”

 

Frisk hummed happily while they ate, bobbing their head in agreement. You felt a little awestruck, if you were to be honest with yourself.

 

Asgore worked for the Underground Embassy and spoke for Monster’s rights. That was just...amazing. No wonder he was always wearing formal clothes! He probably had to look his best all the time. You wondered absently if he ever had to wear a suit.

 

“Wow. That’s just...really incredible. I’m not really the best public speaker right now. I should ask you for some tips some time! Because honestly, that’s just...incredible.”

 

Now it was Asgore’s turn to look sheepish. Frisk just remained smug, chipping in with a cheerful “Yup! Dad’s the best!”

 

You and Frisk grinned at each other while Asgore humbly tried to wave away your praises. You decided to show some mercy and redirect the conversation.

 

“But, yeah, speech class is looking pretty fun so far. I’m looking forward to it!” You took a small sip of your soda.

 

“Awesome!” Frisk chirped. 

 

“It’s always good to enjoy learning, I think.” Asgore commented. You nodded in agreement. You always found it a lot easier to grasp a subject or lesson if you  _ actually enjoyed  _ what you were learning about.

 

“So Frisk,” you began, “what have you been up to lately?”

 

Frisk lit up like a Christmas tree.

 

“I’ve been hanging out with my really awesome friend Undyne! She’s amazing-”

 

You spent a very, very pleasant hour with Asgore and Frisk. Frisk told you all about the adventures they had gone on with their friend Undyne. Some of the stories were almost too fantastic to believe, but you were very seriously assured that they were true. You also gave Frisk their first few mini-lessons in Chinese. You told them about how there were the four different tones that were used when pronouncing words, and that depending on what tone was used, it could completely change the meaning of what you were trying to say. You were happy to see that not only did Frisk seem interested, but Asgore as well.

 

The three of you ended up discussing different languages in general. It seemed like most monsters actually knew bits and pieces of several languages, because of the different things that ended up underground. (You guessed a lot of dictionaries must have fallen down there?) Asgore himself actually knew a passable amount of German. 

 

Asgore was just talking to you about some of the different teas he liked when a ringtone went off.

 

You all paused as Asgore pulled a very large phone out of his pants pocket and checked something.

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry Li, but it looks like I need to be taking Frisk back now.” He looked sincerely sorrowful to have to leave, and you felt butterflies in your stomach because of it.

 

“Oh, don’t worry about it! I can’t believe I kept you guys here so long! Thanks for eating with me! It was really fun!” You grinned at both of them as all three of you stood up and got ready to go. “I should probably be heading out too,” you told them. “It is getting kind of late.”

 

Frisk quickly came around to wrap you in another crushing hug. Gosh, you really loved this kid.

 

“Thanks Li!” Frisk said, “We’ll see you soon, okay?” They looked down at you with big, innocent eyes, and there was no way you could ever refuse that. Even if they were taller than you.

 

“Of course!” You gave Frisk a hug right back, though it probably was nowhere near as “intense” as theirs had been. “I’ll see you guys Sunday, if you stop by. Sound good?”

 

Frisk took a step back and did a little fist pump. “Yeah!” You couldn’t help but smile even wider.

 

But then, you could almost  _ feel  _  all of the blood rush to your face when Asgore came over and gave you a brief hug as well.

 

“Then we will see you Sunday, Li. I hope you have a splendid rest of the week.” He gave you his closed smile, but his eyes scrunched up a little, and your heart really almost exploded.

 

It took you a moment, but you managed a weak “You too!” as Frisk and Asgore hurried on over to the counter to pay. Frisk waved until they were out the door.

 

You stuck around a bit longer to help out Ming and clear off the table you used.

 

When you got up front, you found out Asgore payed for you.

 

Your whole chest felt warm because of it.

 

\---

 

It was a two days after your lunch with Frisk and Asgore, and you were just getting home from your speech class. Ronnie was out “with the squad,” which you were pretty sure consisted of her, JJ, JJ’s brother and his girlfriend. (And JJ’s boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s brother? It was confusing enough that you didn’t spend much time thinking about it.)

 

You really enjoyed your speech class on Fridays; you felt like it helped a lot when it came to overcoming your occasional awkwardness in a conversation. You always did your best to seem like you hadn't memorized what you had to say, so you sounded less like a robot and more like you were having a regular conversation. It reminded you of your theater class in high school, too. Mrs. Devereux was always reminding the class to “Project! Yell at them if you have to! But make it sound  _ natural. _ ” Then again...sometimes your “natural” wasn't always best. (You felt like you twitched, now, whenever someone brought up vegetarians.)

 

After jiggling the key in the lock for a minute or two and hoping your neighbors didn't see, you sighed as your door swung open. You may have liked your speech class, but now you were tired and thirsty and determined to have a cool glass of apple juice.

 

You toed off your shoes by the door and dropped your bags by the sofa on the way to the kitchen. Absolutely  _ nothing  _ could distract you from the juice waiting for you in the fridge, nothing -

 

Except for your phone ringing.

 

Your phone…that was still in your backpack. Well, there was one thing.

 

You meandered back to your bag and dug out your phone absently. You were a little preoccupied trying to remember if you went shopping last week or Ronnie did. Whenever Ronnie did, she got the big jug, but you preferred the juice boxes.

 

“Hello?”

 

“hey there-”

 

The deep voice that you did  _ not  _ recognize on the other end of the line almost startled you into dropping your phone. A quick glance at the screen confirmed that you had been so lost in thought you forgot to even see who it was that was calling you!

 

You managed to press the phone back to your ear just in time to hear the tail-end of whatever the stranger calling you was saying.

 

“- about the job opening at your restaurant?”

 

...Your restaurant. You didn't have a restaurant, so, they must be talking about Tiny China? How did they get your number?

 

“Yes! The, uhm….job opening. That you heard about from, uh…”

 

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and you weren't sure if two people could mutually feel an awkward silence over the phone, but you were  _ definitely  _ feeling something along those lines. 

 

“...uh. my kneephew-” What the heck was a kneephew? Neephew? Neice? Nephew? “- said they talked to a girl at tiny china, a uh, li?”

 

Suddenly the light bulb went off.

 

“Oh! You’re Frisk’s uncle!” You couldn't keep yourself from face palming lightly. You gave Frisk your phone number to give to their uncle if they had questions! You had  _ totally  _ forgotten that. Whoops?

 

There was a chuckle on the other end of the line.

 

“uh, yep. that’d be me. sans the uncle. anyway, are you the owner? frisk just told me to call this number if i wanted to see about working there.”

 

Ohhh, misunderstanding. But this was okay, and kind of what you wanted? Now you could give him a heads up before talking to Ming. You dragged your backpack around to the front of the couch and dug around for a notebook and pencil while you spoke.

 

“Oh! Okay, no actually, kind of a misunderstanding! Ha, sorry, but actually I’m the Li, that Frisk met...the only Li that I know about anyway...and I gave h-....I gave Frisk my number, so you could call me! Because, uh,” 

 

How to explain this? You paused for a bit, settling yourself deeper into your explanation.

 

“It’s a little hard to understand what Ming wants sometimes. So I can totally give you some tips! And like, a heads up! Because Ming tends to hire workers on a, uhm, trial by fire basis? And some kind of warning is better than her throwing an apron on you and putting you to work.” You paused for a moment, and bit your lip. “But she’ll probably still do that.”

 

There was another short pause on the line before the voice on the other end spoke up again. He sounded amused.

 

“trial by fire, huh? sure, some tips would be great. thanks, pal. i’d hate to burn out too soon.”

 

Even though you knew this person couldn’t see you, you couldn’t help but shoot off a blinding grin.

 

“Hey, no problem! I’m always happy to help out a future coworker! Give me juuuuust a second.” You got yourself situated comfortable on the sofa and began scribbling down some of the basics to help you think.

 

“Okay, so, stop me if you get lost anywhere, okay? I’ll try not to like, flood you with information, but it’s kind of a lot.” You already had a list forming in your notebook:  _ tips, tables, bussing, seating, sundays… _

 

“i’ll try my best to keep my head above the water.”

 

You smiled to yourself. That was kind of funny! In a fit of whimsy, you scribbled down what he said in the margins of your notebook.

 

“Alrighty! First things first - we don’t keep tips. The tips actually go to Chef and Ming, they’re the owners, and because we don’t get tips, we get paid more an hour.”

 

“how much do you get paid?”

 

“Ten dollars an hour.”

 

“sounds great.”

 

“Yeah! We really only work two or three hours at a time, unless you work lunch and dinner. But the pay is really nice! Okay, so...I’m gonna give you some tips on how to do things ahead of time, because when Ming explains it, she’s really very hard to understand if you don’t know Chinese.”

 

“alright.”

 

“Okay, so…”

 

You gave Frisk’s uncle as concise a rundown as you could. You had a lot of ideas scrawled in your notebook, but you didn’t want to ramble on about a bunch of stuff he would probably forget anyway. So in the end, you told him what Ming expected him to do, which was just about everything except for cook, wash the dishes, and run the register. You also added in what he should expect from Ming; her correcting him a lot in a loud, mildly irritated way. And a lot of confusing instructions.

 

“But don’t worry! If we end up working together, I’ll do my best to help you out! It seems like she has a lot of silly rules, but you get used to them pretty quick!” Your ideas list was quickly transforming into a page of doodles, and when your pencil wasn’t on the paper you were fiddling with your glasses. A sudden thought made you actually knock your glasses off your face though in your haste to get it or of your brain and into the air.

 

“Oh my god! I almost forgot the best thing!”

 

“yeah?”

 

“Yeah! Okay, so whenever you work a lunch shift, you eat the leftovers on the buffet for free! Isn’t that awesome?”

 

“yeah. sounds...charm-ming. i think i’d definitely buffet-nit from that.”

 

It took you about half a second to realize what he had just said. An embarrassingly loud, singular “HA” came out of your mouth before you could stop it, even though you tried. Honestly, that probably just made it worse; there was no doubt in your mind he heard the loud  _ slap  _ your hand made when you tried to cover your mouth.

 

“Oh- oh my god, sorry! Haha I’m so sorry, that was really loud-” You were interrupted by chuckles on the other end of the line.

 

“hey, it’s not every day i get such a great reaction. thanks a lot, pal. so when’s the best time to come in?”

 

“Ahaha, you’re welcome? The best time is definitely gonna be during the week. She’ll probably tell you to come back later so you can try out a shift. So, early in the week to talk to her, so that she’ll ask you to come back another weekday? If that makes sense, sorry…”

 

“nah, i get it. and hey, thanks again.”

 

“No problem! Was there anything else you were wondering about?”

 

“nope, i think that's about it. you were real helpful.”

 

“Great! Then, hopefully I’ll see you soon!”

 

“yeah. see ya then, li.”

 

“Bye, Sans! I hope you get the job!”

 

It wasn’t your most graceful conversation, but for some reason even after the  _ click,  _ you were still smiling.

 

Quickly, before you forgot, you wrote down the couple of jokes he said. You thought they were really clever, and wanted to remember that.

 

But now you could finally get your apple juice!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOO BOY Sorry for the delay! Thanks to everyone that's left comments or reviews and stuck with me! I'll try and answer as many comments as I can tonight, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D


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